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Girls volleyball: St. Charles East rallies past St. Charles North in 3

Trailing St. Charles North 17-12 in the second set after already dropping the opener, St. Charles East's girls volleyball postseason hopes were on the brink Monday night in Carpentersville.

That's when Saints coach Jennie Kull turned to senior Nicole Luzi for her serving expertise.

Luzi came off the bench to record an ace and added another service point as the Saints (25-13) rallied to win the second set, and she returned to provide a 5-0 spark midway through the third set during the team's 16-25, 25-23, 25-21 Class 4A Dundee-Crown sectional semifinal victory over the North Stars (19-16).

"Nicole did a fantastic job," said Saints coach Jennie Kull, whose team advanced to Wednesday's sectional championship against top-seeded Huntley (33-5) for the second consecutive season.

"That's what she's there for. That was the game changer."

Luzi, who added a pair of digs, was just happy to contribute in any way.

"It's really important that everybody on the bench is ready to go in and we're all there for our teammates," said Luzi. "I'm just thrilled that I could do that for my team."

Kull wasn't surprised with Luzi's determination.

"She was honored earlier in the year because she's had three heart surgeries," said Kull. "That's the kind of kid she is. When you can take three heart surgeries then it's nothing to come out here and do that."

St. Charles North trimmed the Saints' lead to 21-19 in the third set before a push kill by Rachel Sheehan (6 kills) and North hitting error made it 23-19.

Ally Warburton's kill helped keep the North Stars alive at 24-21 before junior outside hitter Skyler Misch (4 kills, 3 digs) provided the game-winning kill for the Saints.

"It has been different kids at different times all season," said Kull. "I thought Rachel Sheehan had a really good game. She made some big plays that we needed."

Much like their previous meeting, the North Stars jumped out to a great start in the opening set.

Led by Kyla Lannert (17 kills), Riley Moreno (4 kills), Mia Dela Merced (11 kills) and Warburton, sixth-seeded St. Charles North cruised to victory in the first set and appeared on the threshold of sweeping the third-seeded Saints in the second set.

Despite being doubled in kills (16-8), the Saints survived the middle set before playing a much more complete third set.

"You can never count Jennie Kull out - she finds a way all the time," said North Stars coach Lindsey Hawkins. "She's great at getting her troops to rally.

"I felt like in the second set they (Saints) started touching a lot more balls. They were super scrappy on defense. It's a little deflating when they're touching everything."

The Saints received a balanced effort from Nina Scoliere (22 assists, 22 digs, 3 kills), Emily Stallman (13 digs), Lauren Pondel (11 digs), Jessica Garland (2 aces, 7 digs), Amarion Isbell (4 kills, 12 digs), Anita Prybell (4 kills) and Kate Goudreau (6 kills, 3 digs).

"They (North Stars) played great," said Kull. "We were lucky to get away with it being down like we were."

Lauren Ringness and Marissa Guajardo added 3 and 2 kills, respectively, for the North Stars.

"We felt we had improved a lot and I think it showed because we had them," said Hawkins. "But you've got to be able to make those big plays at the end."

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